Intelligence Authorization Act worked into omnibus spending bill to increase Congressional oversight of U.S. Intelligence community

Included in the omnibus spending bill advanced by the Senate last week, the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2022 (IAA)  would authorize funding and legal authorities for the U.S. Intelligence community while increasing oversight of it.

“The Intelligence Authorization Act ensures that the men and women of our Intelligence Community have the resources, personnel, and authorities they need to keep our country safe while operating under vigorous supervision and oversight,” U.S. Mark Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, said. “The funding and authorities provided in the IAA will increase the Intelligence Community’s ability to detect and counter cyber threats, ransomware attacks, and other emerging threats, including those from adversaries such as China and Russia. This IAA will also reinforce oversight of the IC by strengthening protections for whistleblowers, reforming the security clearance process, and mandating a robust response to reported cases of ‘Havana Syndrome.’”

Essentially, the bill – if signed by President Joe Biden as part of the omnibus – would target nine areas:

• Increase oversight and investments to counter the Chinese Communist Party and its influence operations across technology, infrastructure, procurement, and more
• Improve response to the anomalous health incidents (AHI) known as “Havana Syndrome” through an independent medical advisory board at the CIA, ensuring benefits eligibility and access to expert medical advice and facilities, and requiring protocols on testing, information safeguards, and reporting mechanisms
• Improve Intelligence ability to adopt AI and other emerging technologies
• New investments in commercial imagery and analytic services to provide more unclassified collection and analysis to policymakers and soldiers, quicker
• Mandate performance management foundations to analyze adoption and effectiveness of the Executive Branch’s “Trusted Workforce 2.0” initiative while more accurately measuring how long it takes to transfer clearances between federal agencies and creating community-wide policies to share information on cleared contractors
• Ensure congressional oversight of and protections for whistleblowers on issues of waste, fraud, or abuse
• Address intelligence requirements in key locations
• Strengthen the IC’s ability to conduct financial intelligence
• Supporting the IC’s efforts to assess unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)

“This year’s Act provides increased capabilities to confront the multitude of threats facing our nation, including the Chinese Communist Party and other autocratic states like Russia, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela; the dispersed terrorist and cyber threats; and also provides the tools for leveraging the commercial sector’s innovation to address intelligence challenges,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), vice chairman of the Select Committee, said.